


Sunrise Again

by Astrumiel



Category: The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:06:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23832100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astrumiel/pseuds/Astrumiel
Relationships: Addam Saint Nicholas/Rune Saint John, Addam/Rune/Brand
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Sunrise Again

The silence was so sharp Brand felt like his ears must have popped - that was the first sensation - before the pain even registered. It happened so quickly it didn’t even register at first - he whipped around to see Rune fall to the ground with no resistance - the light dying from his eyes like the last rays of the sun slipping beyond a distant horizon.    
  
He would have blamed the fact that they were in a pocket dimension for the reason why all his movements felt too slow. He ran - falling by Rune’s side and checking his scion for injuries - because Rune Saint John could not be dead. Brand couldn’t live in that reality.    
  
“No no no no no - don’t scare me like this, eyes open, damnit  _ now  _ Rune -  _ Rune, please _ .” The last bit squeezed itself like a childish plea - he didn’t even register Addam next to him. Rune couldn’t be dead - it wasn’t possible because if it came to it Brand was supposed to lay his life down for Rune - and he would, he would - he’d do it right now. Trade his life for the cold emptiness that roared like an empty storm in his mind. It was choking - awful - he couldn’t breathe. Even when Rune had been unconscious with his mind completely shuttered away it hadn’t felt like this - cold, empty, painful like a part of his own heart had been bluntly carved out.    
  
Addam watched Brand check Rune over like a frantic mother - he hoped so badly he’d hear a barked out order for a healing spell or a relieved laugh when Brand found a pulse. Any second now this cruel nightmare moment that clung to his lungs like ice, would thaw. He just had to breathe through the panic and wait for _ his Hero _ to be alright, because he had to be. Each moment that it dragged on without Addam’s heart sank into a darker grief, tears stinging his eyes as he tried to blink them away. How had they both failed Rune so badly? Walking into an ambush so well planned that both of them couldn’t keep him safe. Now looking at Rune’s faded - distant blue-gray eyes staring sightlessly Addam choked back a hard, pained sob - his heart was breaking. How had this happe-   
  
A spark ran over Addam’s hand - the portal was closing.    
  
“Brand -” His voice shook.   
  
“No.” Brand’s voice, by contrast, was clear and sharp as a slap.    
  
“We can’t - we have to go.”    
  
“No.” Again but this time pained. “No no no no I-”   
  
_ “No non-living thing could pass through the portal” _ \- it had seemed like a needless warning in a book but now they both understood. There was no taking Rune back with them.   
  
“I know, I know,” Addam said and it hurt with each word but they both knew it wasn’t possible. “ we have to go, I'm sorry. he's gone"   
  
“I can’t -”    
  
Addam grabbed him by the shoulder. “Brandon Saint John your court still needs you - I will not let you stay here to die -” He broke off knowing if he finished Brand would fight him over the words. This would hurt so much but it had to be done.    
  
Addam bent down and pressed a kiss to his fallen hero’s cheek, and carefully closed his eyes. Then pulled back and took out a small knife - they had so little time but it would have to do.    
  
Brand’s hand came up and curled around his wrist to stop him - Addam met his eyes and Brand’s pleading gaze - to do this was to admit that Rune was really gone.    
  
“Addam-”   
  
“We have to - I’m so sorry-”   
  
“ . . .Let me do one then.” Brand said in a smaller voice.    
  
He took the knife and nicked his ring finger - tracing the shape of a peace rune over the back of Rune’s hand - then giving Brand the knife so he could do the same on the back of the other.    
  
_ “Proshchay lyubov'”  _ Addam whispered watching Brand stare at Rune for a long moment before leaning over and kissing his forehead. He could hear the soft words of goodbye that Brand left before getting up with a singular purpose and walking away. Addam took one last glance - Rune with his funeral marked hands crossed over his heart - lay almost peacefully on the cold and unforgiving, completely unchanging ground of this cruel pocket dimension. Getting up and walking away from him felt like leaving half of his heart behind.    
  
  
They spoke to no one but Ciaran and Tower that night - telling them in the briefest terms what happened. Addam did most of the talking - watching Mayan sit Brand down and hand him a flask before saying something to which Brand only shook his head once. After too long spent there Addam forced Brand into his room in the Sun Estate - grateful that all the kids were away at school or in Queenie’s care.   
  
A glint caught his eye and Addam moved faster than he had expected - knocking a pocket knife out of Brand’s startled hand.    
  
“Don’t you dare,” He whispered barely in control of his voice. He knew from watching Eve when Christian had been sick that some companions would sooner follow their scions in death than live without them. He would not let Brand be one of them.    
  
The pain was written all over Brand - as was the guilt that he couldn’t shed. That broke Addam’s heart too. He grabbed Brand’s wrist and pulled him into his chest. Cradling the back of his head as he spoke.    
  
“You were the love of his life - and I swear I’ll protect you.” The words were scarcely out of his mouth before he felt the first sob against his chest and Brand’s arms tightened around him. His own tears came quickly after. “ _ Moy shchit”  _ Addam murmured through hot tears. “Grieve all your heart needs.” Brand had always been so strong for them - Addam could give him sanctuary to be broken now. 

  
Sometime later in the long night when tears ran dry and Addam’s hand dropped from stroking Brand’s hair in a soft, soothing way and they both drifted into a wrung out sleep together.    
  
There was no dawn light the next morning - the sky was overcast like it was grieving too. Something like a thought poked at Brand’s mind as he woke - it was so strange he could almost forget the emptiness that should be filled by Rune’s thoughts. Sitting up he blinked blearily at his surroundings then his eyes fell on Addam. There was something different about him. . . something Brand couldn’t put into words. Addam chose that moment to wake and open his eyes. Beautiful deep wine eyes that looked at Brand with confusion as Addam sat up as well.    
  
Brand blinked a few more times trying to rid his eyes of sleep and this weird after image thing that his fucking eyes were doing. Tentatively Addam reached over - stopping a breath before touching Brand’s face. The after image wouldn’t fade and the humming in his mind got stronger it made no sense what was - then it clicked.    
  
“Us.”    
  
Addam’s palm rested on his cheek and the feeling flared and crackled.    
  
“Us.” Addam echoed in awe. His eyes were still bloodshot from all the tears he shed but some small spark of wonder shone through. Of all the times for this to manifest itself, it had to be now?   
  
“The fucking Talla bond?” Brand couldn’t keep the shock out of his voice and when Addam’s hand began to slip away he grabbed it and held it tight. “I didn’t mean it like that just-”   
  
“Too soon - we just lost - “   
  
“Yeah…”   
  
The grief crashed over them both anew - not as sharply as before. Now Brand could feel Addam next to him. Maybe it was ok that they had bonded now like this - maybe it would help them both keep their heads above the water.    
  
  
They let Tower handle the public end of things. For a long time Brand only got out of bed in the mornings to give the rest of the household some semblance of normal - and because he had Addam to lean on. He kept waiting to feel a wave of guilt for it - for falling for Rune’s man - but it never happened. When Max came home from his trip and fell into a hug that made Brand feel like it was the kid’s first night home after the fall of the Lover’s court all over again - Addam and Queenie had come in to help. It was still too much most days but slowly there were signs that things, in some small ways, were healing.    
  
It was about four months after they lost Rune and Addam and he had bonded - that Brand finally pulled Addam aside into a quiet spot. He meant to say something - lead up to it but he had never really been great with words. That first kiss held as much sadness as it did hope for the future, for something brighter after this pain subsided. It was a kiss that held comfort for both of them and the small smile it put on Addam’s lips eased something in Brand’s chest.    
  
Addam pulled Brand into his bedroom that night - they had done this before, one or the other usually ended up walking into the other’s room every few nights or so, to share the comfort of being with someone. The first night they shared a bed as lovers wasn’t quite what Brand had expected. It was quiet, slow, and wonderful in a way that honestly neither thought they might ever get. It was in the dark, after that, that Brand told Addam how much he had loved Rune, a confession that was met with a soft look and a kiss to his forehead as Addam held him.    
  
“ _ Talla, _ he loved you just as much,” Addam assured him softly.    
  
Months stretched onward - some days better than others but slowly life felt like life - not just passing hours of different shades of light.    
  
It was just before dawn one morning when something like a splitting headache about to start woke Brand up. Addam stirred awake a moment later. The air in their bedroom seemed to snap and crackle like a lightning strike about to hit or -    
  
A portal opened and someone stepped through it. Brand was on his feet - weapon in hand a second later rushing the figure before he froze and the resulting realization hit Addam through their bond before he even heard Brand say it.    
  
"You can’t - Rune - how are you back?" Brand asked, voice cracking and the last time Rune saw him cry like this was the day after his own assault when Brand's guilt flared so bad it almost made him physically sick. Beside him Addam’s hand was running soothingly over Brand's back but his eyes were on Rune, disbelief, fear, wonder, guilt all swirling in his lovely burgundy eyes as he watched Rune almost like he was wondering if he’d judge them for  _ this _ or for leaving him behind.   
  
"No no I'm so glad you had each other and - look I don't really know how I came back,” He broke off trying to sort through his own confusion, “ . . . I remember hearing you - your voices next to me when I was drifting away and then I woke up in the pocket dimension again. . . I-" He broke off again.   
  
"Hero, Rune what is it?" Addam asked tentatively.    
  
"I found the funeral runes on my hands and I realized you two thought I was gone - hell I thought I was gone but I swear I'm real and - and- " It caught him hard, the actual realization and the relief. Next thing he knew Brand and Addam were helping him stand, then a moment later, walk over to the bed while his head thrummed with something overwhelming. He grasped at it with his mind - a lifeline in this confusion.    
  
"We'll figure this out Rune - one step at a time, you're barely on your feet-" Brand’s voice was shaking as much as his hands were, it was a wonder that he could hold Rune up and oh the joy, the relief, and the sheer love in their rejoined minds -    
  
He realized why his head was buzzing as he watched Brand wordlessly reach for the discarded hoodie that Addam had grabbed, he’d scarcely sat down on the bed, Addam’s still holding his hand when -    
  
"You're Bonded." He whispered and froze - they did as well, evident that they were worried about what he'd think -"But I can still feel - oh.  _ OH _ ANCIENT GODS YOU TWO -" He was on his feet again in elated shock and Brand started laughing first. The kind of shocked and lack-of-other-reaction laugh that feels wildly out of place yet isn't.    
  
"We're -" Addam began as his eyes glossed over with tears because he felt it,  _ felt all of it. _ _   
_ "All linked." As soon as it was said it became an undeniable truth, they could feel it.   
  
"The fucking  _ talla _ bond Rune, I mean it's known to work miracles but -"    
  
"You think it brought me back?"    
  
"You said you heard us calling you - and then you came back - it might have been - I mean you have two tallas. Who says it has to be impossible?"   
  
He wasn’t not sure which happened first but a moment later Brand and Addam were there, Addam pressing a kiss to his cheek and Brand to his forehead, both of them holding him tightly - there were tears too. Happy ones spilled by all of them in this sweet reunion as the sun broke over the horizon and filtered warmly through the windows and a new day began. 


End file.
